Eight Mile

That was what I logged today. No big deal, except that I've been sidelined for a little over a week with one of the worst back issues I've ever had. I even admitted defeat and went and saw a doctor on Monday. For anyone who knows me, that's a big deal.

The doc cracked me in a thousand places and gave me some meds and I've been feeling a lot better in the last two days. My job forced me to leave Chicago and come back to Toronto this week, so instead of sitting around the condo today, I made a point to head over to the gym.

Feeling good, I did six miles on the treadmill and then two around the track at about an 8-minute pace. I skipped the core workout or any lifting, because I was worried about tweaking my back. I've had sharp pain in my neck, upper right back, right shoulder and even some strain in my right chest muscles.

I'm just happy I was able to get back to running again. When you finally become a "runner", it's funny how even a few days off make you really antsy. Between my job and not running, my stress level was going through the roof. I've been feeling really irritable and quite tense. I'm sure my wife can attest to that!

But, after running today, I felt so much better. And relieved that the whole run went well, no rust really to shake off. Since the week after I completed Chicago Marathon, I've been trying to maintain an average of at least 21 miles per week. Minus last week, I've been able to manage that type of work load.

Don't tell my wife :) but I'm contemplating running the Tampa Marathon on Feb. 28. Someone reminded me that it was going on while I was in Florida and I'm considering giving it a go. I might not, but I'm at least letting the idea linger in my head. I have yet to sit down and map out a plan to see if it's realistic or not.

That's all for now. Just haven't updated in a while.

~JB